Brick package



Nov. 29, 1960 H. T. ELSE 2,962,163

BRICK PACKAGE Filed Aug. 8, 1957 /4 H H l a "1" 35 gm! M :1 E

J4 74 /7 5/ 34 T 25 I /x EEIHIIS SSS INVENTOR.

HARRY f 165 J4 AUUEA/EKS United States Patent BRICK PACKAGE- Harry Thompson Else, Bradford; 12s., assignon to Hanley Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvanra Filed Aug. 8, 1957, Ser; No. 677,136

12 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) The present inventionrelates to a package for bricks or the like which may be handled-by a fork truck without the use of a pallet. The invention relates more particularly to such a package which may be lifted from any one of its four sides by a fork truck and which isof simple construction requiring a minimum number of inexpensive items in addition to the bricks themselves.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a package for bricks or the like which may be lifted from any of its four sides by a fork lift truck.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a package which may be constructed using only the bricks themselves and metal straps and cardboard sheets.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a brick package wherein the bricks are arranged to substantially prevent chipping of the corners of the bricks "without resorting to separating layers of cardboard or paper between courses of brick.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a brick package which may be partially constructed at a first location such as a brick sorting area and thereafter conveyed by means of a roller conveyor, for example, to a central strapping station where metal straps may be applied to complete the package.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a brick package which may be handled by a fork lift truck from any of its four sides which contains a submultiple of 1000 bricks but which is constructed to preserve the structural integrity of the package so that it may also be handled on roller conveyors or by slings or other methods without the necessity of further strapping or securing the package.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which Fig. l is an isometric view of a brick package illustrative of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the respective layers of brick in the package of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Fig. l a. brick package 11 is shown constructed in accordance with the present invention. The package is constructed of a number of bricks 12 arranged in a predetermined pattern. The lower two layers of brick are enclosed by a tube-like support 15 which may be formed of 200 lb. test cardboard, for example. The lower brick layers 13 and 14 are provided with voids 16 and 17. The voids 16 and 17 are so spaced and of such dimension that the tines of a fork truck may be inserted in the voids 16 and 17 to lift and carry the brick package 11. The third course or layer of brick 18 is also provided with voids 19 and 21 so that fork truck tines may also be inserted from the sides of the brick package 11 as well as from the front and rear.

A second tube-like cardboard support 22 is provided around the fourth layer of brick 23. The cardboard support 22 provides a rigid structure against which fork truck tines may hear when inserted in voids 19 and 21.

Patented Nov. 29, 1860 The support 22 also provides a base for the upper layers of brick 24, 25, 26 and 27.

At the-top edges of the brick package cardboard corner shields-28 and are provided to protect the brick package from damage by. metal bands 31, 32 and 33 which are placed around the package to hold it together. The cardboard'shields 28 and 29 also tendto prevent dislocation of bricks in the top layer 27- and thus make the package more rugged.

The arrangement of the cardboard supports and metal bands in Fig. lis particularly advantageous for standard sizebricks; but-it should be-noted that the present inventionis not limited totthe particular arrangement shown. For example, the cardboardsupports 15 and 22 are shown completely encircling certains layers of the package but it will be appreciated that the package could be constructed so thatthe cardboard would not completely encircle the layers, or in fact, the cardboard could be utilized simply as a flat sheetbetween layers.

The particular package shown is especially adapted to standard size bricks (8 x 3% x 2%). It will be understood that such a package may also be constructed utilizing bricks, blocks or otherarticles of generally prismoidal shape.

A greater number ofmetal bands such as 31, 32 and 33 could. he provided for the brick package, or ties other than metal banding could be used to secure the package. Itis desirable, however, to construct the package by utilizingv the minimum amount of material in addition to the bricks themselves.

Fig. 2 shows the various layers of bricks in the package.

It will be noted that these layers are arranged in a different fashion, the top layer 27 having the bricks all arranged on edge in parallel rows while the layer 26 has crosswise rows of bricks interspersed in the layer. The overall width of the two layers is therefore different and the ends of the bricks in top layer 27 therefore do not coincide with the ends of the brick in layer 26. As a result the point where four corners of the bricks meet in the top layer 27 does not coincide with the point where four corners of the bricks meet in layer 26. It has been found that by stacking bricks in this fashion, chipping of the bricks due to the gnashing of the corners in the course of handling is prevented without the necessity of providing separating layer of cardboard or the like between the brick layers.

It may be noted that layer 25 and layer 24 also differ in arrangement so that in the top four layers, alternate layers are arranged in different fashion to prevent chipping of the bricks as explained above.

Layer 23 is arranged in similar fashion to layers 27 and 25 and may be enclosed in a cardboard support 22 as shown in Fig. 1.

Layer 18 is arranged to provide for side entry of the tines of a fork truck and is also arranged so that tines of a fork inserted in voids 16 and 17 in the bottom two layers bear against the bricks in layer 18 in such a fashion that the lifting force from the fork tines is distributed across the horizontal cross-section of the brick package.

The bottom two layers 14 and 13 are similar and are arranged so that each row of brick 34, 35 and 36 is supported by a respective metal band 31, 32 and.33 as well as by the cardboard support 15. When the brick package 11 is carried by a fork truck, the lower two layers 13 and are thus supported from above by the metal bands 31, 32 and 33 and by the lower cardboard support 15.

A single brick 37 may be placed on edge within the center row 35 of the lower two layers of brick 13 and 14. With the extra brick 37 the package illustrated consisting of layers constructed in accordance with Figs. 1 and 2 contains exactly 250 bricks. The same'result could of course be accomplished in other fashions. It

is desirable that the brick package contain a number of bricks equal to a sub-multiple of 1000, since bricks are normally sold in lots of 1000 or multiples thereof.

It will be appreciated that the particular arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 through 9 is only one of many which might be devised according to the present invention. For example, it is not necessary that two layers 13 and 14 be utilized to allow entry of fork tines from the front and rear of the package and thus one of the layers 13 or 14 could be eliminated. Two layers are used in the embodiment shown primarily to arrive at a package containing a sub-multiple of 1000 bricks.

It is also obvious that while the layer 18 providing side entry for fork truck tines is constructed in difierent fashion from layers 13 and 14, the side entry layer could of course be formed simply by utilizing one or more layers similar to 13 and 14 turned through an angle of 90.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that various of the brick courses protrude from the sides of the package. An additional advantage accrues from the presence of these protruding layers in that the package can be picked up by gripping one of the protruding courses. The package 11 thus may be picked up with a hooked sling or the like thereby allowing the package to be handled with a derrick or boom when this is more convenient than the use of a fork truck.

Another important advantage is obtained by the brick package construction described herein. This advantage accrues from the fact that the brick package shown may be assembled in a sorting area where there may be several sorting stations, and without being strapped, may be conveyed by means of a roller or belt conveyor, either powered or unpowered, to a central strapping station. This characteristic of the package is of the utmost practical importance. Metal strapping cannot be efiiciently and reliably accomplished by the use of hand or portable strapping devices but is best accomplished by an automatic metal strapping machine which efiiciently and reliably passes metal straps around a package and tightens and secures them in place. Such machines are large and expensive and it is not feasible to supply such a machine at each of the sorting stations where bricks are assembled into a lot or package.

From the above explanation it will therefore be seen that it is of great importance that a package intended to be utilized in the packaging of bricks be constructed in such a fashion that a unitary package is provided even before the straps are added in order to allow the use of a central strapping station where automatic strapping machines may be employed.

From the foregoing description and explanation it will be seen that a package for bricks is provided by the present invention which is of simple and inexpensive construction and eliminates the use of wooden pallets or the like since, in effect, the pallet for the package is built into the package.

Various modifications have been suggested to the par ticular embodiment of the brick package shown by way of illustration. Other modifications could be made by those of ordinary skill in the art and it is accordingly intended that the scope of the present invention shall not be limited to the particular embodiments described, but that the scope of the present invention shall be limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shipping package for articles comprising a first layer of said articles having voids for the entrance of fork truck tines, a section of sheet material placed around said first layer of articles for supporting further layers of articles, a second layer of said articles placed above said first layer of articles, said second layer having voids for the entrance of fork truck tines from a dilayer, a third layer of said articles placed above said second layer, a section of sheet material placed around said third layer for supporting further layers of articles, further layers of articles placed above said third layer, each of said layers being formed of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns of said articles, and ties placed around said package in a substantially vertical plane to hold said layers together to form a rugged and substantially unitary package of articles.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said further layers of articles are disposed so that the corners of said articles in successive layers do not coincide.

3. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second layer is placed immediately above and adjacent said first layer.

4. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said third layer is placed immediately above and adjacent said second layer.

5. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said section of sheet material placed around said third layer completely surrounds and covers four sides of said layer.

6. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ties are placed around said package against sides of said third layer not enclosed by said section of sheet material.

7. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said third layer is placed immediately above and adjacent said second layer.

8. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said section of sheet material placed around said third layer completely surrounds and covers four sides of said layer.

9. A shipping package for articles comprising a first layer of said articles, said layer having voids for the entrance of fork truck tines, a section of sheet material placed around said first layer of articles for supporting further layers of articles, a second layer of said articles placed above said first layer of articles, said second layer having voids for the entrance of fork truck tines from a direction perpendicular to that of the voids in said first layer, a third layer of said articles placed above said second layer, a section of sheet material placed around said third layer for supporting further layers of articles, further layers of articles placed above said third layer, each of said layers being formed of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns of said articles, said further layers being of at least two different widths and disposed so that the corners of said articles in successive layers do not coincide, and metal straps placed around said package in a substantially vertical plane to hold said layers together to form a rugged and substantially unitary package of articles.

10. A packing sub-assembly comprising a first layer of said articles, said layer having voids for the entrance of fork truck tines, a section of sheet material placed around said first layer of articles for supporting further layers of articles, a second layer of said articles placed above said first layer of articles, said second layer having voids for the entrance of fork truck tines from a direction perpendicular to that of the voids in said first layer, a third layer of said articles placed above said second layer, a section of sheet material placed around said third layer for supporting further layers of articles, further layers of articles placed above said third layer, each of said layers being formed of a plurality of rows and a plurality of said columns of said articles said further layers being of at least two different widths and disposed so that the corners of said articles in successive layers do not coincide, whereby said packing sub-assembly provides a unitary structure capable of being conveyed as by a roller conveyor and thus capable of being moved from an assembly point to a central station where said packing sub-assembly may be strapped to provide a rugged and substantially unitary shipping package for said articles.

11, A package as claimed in claim 10 wherein said of said articles in successive layers do not coincide.

12. A package as claimed in claim 10 wherein said second layer is placed immediately above and adjacent said first layer. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 197,597 Brown Nov. 27, 1877 10 1,561,210 Booraem Nov. 10, 1925 2,405,535 Weiss Aug. 6, 1946 2,443,202 Smith June 15, 1948 6 Simonton Sept. 9, 1952 Thielens Oct. 7, 1952 Miller Oct. 21, 1952 Rose Jan. 5, 1954 Klein Apr. 10, 1956 Brown Oct. 30, 1956 Taylor et al. Jan. 10, 1957 Demarest Apr. 30, 1957 Thomas Sept. 3, 1957 Wilson July 21, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden Aug. 7, 1951 

